Title: Only Time Will Tell (The Clifton Chronicles 1)
Author: Jeffrey Archer
Genre: Historical Fiction
Format: Paperback
Date of Publication: September 1st 2011
Publisher: Pan Publishing
The epic tale of Harry Clifton’s life begins in 1919, in the backstreets of Bristol. His father was a war hero, but it will be twenty-one tumultuous years before Harry descivers the truth about how his father really died and if, in fact, he even was his father.
Only Time Will Tell takes a cast of memorable characters from the ravages of the Great War to the outbreak of the Second World War, when Harry must decide whether to take his place at Oxford, or join the fight against Hitler’s Germany.
In Jeffrey Archer’s masterful hands, you will be taken on a journey that you won’t want to end, even after you turn the last page of this unforgettable yarn, because you’ll be faced with a dilemma that neither you, nor Harry Clifton could ever have anticipated.
Raise your hand if you have experienced this before. You have just read or seen a masterpiece and for next few moments you just sit. You can’t think properly, you can’t speak properly. You need to gather yourself before you can come back to reality and behave as if nothing ever happened. That is what happens to me when I read a Jeffrey Archer book and it happened this time too. Jeffrey Archer is a class apart. He is the Master. He is one person I can turn to anytime I need a dose of Historical Fiction with a spoonful of Drama. And I am never disappointed. I became a family member of the Cliftons and a regular guest of the Barringtons. Over the span of 20 years, I grew up with Harry, Giles and Deakins. I saw Maisie struggling financially to keep Harry in school. I saw Old Jack Tar sharing his wisdom with Harry and therefore with me. I tolerated Hugo Barrington’s hatred. I stayed with Harry till the end of line. I laughed. I worried. I cried. Archer knows which set of words in a particular way play with the strings of your heart. And this time he even left the book at a cliffhanger. His writing has a way of making you want to know more, read more.
After I was done with this book, I found myself looking up the blurb of book 2, 3 and even 4. I could have even started reading book 2 but then the other books on my bookshelf would hate me. I’ll give myself a break from Clifton saga, and return to it in a few months time, that’s a promise!
Each and every book of Archer’s should be on your TBR list.
Final Verdict:
Only Time Will Tell by Jeffrey Archer gets 5 out of 5 stars from me.